- From: Richard Ishida <ishida@w3.org>
- Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 14:19:01 +0100
- To: "'Shawn Lawton Henry'" <shawn@w3.org>, <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
> [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Shawn Lawton Henry
> Sent: 01 July 2004 21:44
...
> Question: Do we want people to read the general before the
> technology-specific?
> Answer: Yes. Primarily want to encourage people to read the
> general before they read the technology-specific. At the same
> time, also want it to be easy for experienced people to skip
> the general and go right to a specific.
...
I see this as different tasks, rather than a difference between novice vs
expert. I think along the following lines:
[1] People who are auditing or creating auditing methods are likely to need
a top down approach starting with guidelines - ie. starting from the most
general rule, work down to specific questions related to platform or
technology.
[2] People who are implementing using existing technologies are likely to
need immediate access to very specific information - the opposite approach
to that of reviewers and auditors.
[3] People who are defining new technologies are likely to need a top down
approach to guidelines - ie. starting from the most general rule, work down
in granularity, but remain abstract.
I think that content authors tend to want to look things up as they are
implementing a particular feature in a particular format ("Just tell me how
to do this, now."). Even for novices, forcing them to get there through
generalities can be inappropriate, not just because of the amount of
redirection/hoop they have to jump through, but also because it introduces
more information than they need.
I'm not saying we shouldn't encourage such people to read the general stuff,
but we shouldn't force them to use it in all circumstances on the basis of
expertise.
RI
> [1] WAI site redesign project:
> http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/2003/redesign.html
>
> [2] Mini, informal requirements for Intro pages:
> http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/UCD/intro-pages
> Very early, rough draft of UAAG intro pages (without nav, style,
> etc.):
> http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/sketchpad/uaag.html
>
Received on Monday, 5 July 2004 09:19:01 UTC